The present paper is based on the study that was prompted by the objective of an assessment of the Combined Probationary Training Programme (CPTP) from the perspective of the Officer Trainees (OTs) those who had completed the entire training of two years and now are on the field as an incumbent officer. It was also desired to confirm the observations of the Officer Trainees about the overall design and implementation of the CPTP. Hence the study was commenced to assess the overall level of an academic and physical infrastructure made available during the different phases of the programme spread over a span of two years. Another significant precursor to the present study was to undertake the attachment wise performance of the Combined Probationary Training Programme (CPTP) which in fact is the chronology of the present paper and summary and conclusion that follow. The same is adopted throughout the paper that ends with the post script and policy implications. Entire paper is based on the primary data obtained by administering in person a pre-structured questionnaire from 102 debriefing OTs (as 102 out of 106 have responded). It was a set of 57 main questions, mostly qualitative, covering all the components of the Combined Probationary Training Programme (CPTP) spread over a period of two years. Hence the qualitative responses cannot be quantified and therefore the inferences reflect the experiences of the OTs expressed in their views on CPTP. Scientifically this makes the present paper based on a study as the ‘post facto empirical analyses.’ In all the primary data collected for the present study comprise the opinion of 102 [(out of 106) (96.22 per cent)] respondents of the CPTP Batch-II-2014. This is sufficient to term it as a census study. Hence it demands no application of the probability based inferential Statistical tools to establish the facts emerging out from the tabulation and interpretation of the data. As the paper depends on the primary data, the data collection exercise was conducted during the period of debriefing of the incumbent batch and the period of the same was between 20th March and 01st April 2017. As the programme CPTP itself is self-explanatory which expects a cadre heterogeneity, hence the batch of respondents for primary data consisted the cadres respectively; Assistant Commissioner of Sales Tax (06.86 per cent), Deputy Collector (35.29 per cent), Deputy CEOs and BDOs (08.82 per cent), DySP / ACP (16.67 per cent), MFAS-Group-A (03.92 per cent) and Tehsildar (28.43 per cent). Such heterogeneity adds the value of high statistical significance to the conclusions drawn. Mainly the study is carried out on the overall quality and compliance of the components respectively; the foundation training split into two phases respectively; on and off campus foundation training, technical training, district attachment, national capital visit and the state tour of Maharashtra and debriefing. The paper is divided into eight subsections on each of the component of the programme. We at the end of the paper arrive at the component-wise write up in the post script and policy implications take into account; the possibility of implementation of the same with least further implications, without changing the basic structure of the CPTP, are workable and adoptable. The study arrives at the desired recommendations from the experiences of the Officer Trainees (OTs) that had figured in their responses given in the questionnaire.
